Magnetometers are measurement instruments that can be used to measure the amount of magnetization of magnetic materials, or to measure the strength of a magnetic field. In some cases, magnetometers can also indicate the direction of a magnetic field at a point in space. These basic uses can be translated into more specific uses such as, for example, identifying magnetic anomalies, measuring the earth's magnetic field, detecting metals and/or the like. In recent years, miniaturized magnetometers have also found uses as compasses in mobile phones as the ability to incorporate magnetometers into integrated circuits has emerged.
However, a relatively small, yet still portable and robust magnetometer, such as a compact chip-scale magnetometer, has not yet been developed.